After the War

Chapter 20

*This is a direct continuation from the last chapter*

The mist swirled in the dark kitchen and Harry felt himself flying up off the floor at Grimmauld Place. He felt his spine straighten automatically and McGonagall's office came back into view. Gripping the solid wood of her desk, he stopped the world from swaying after the disorienting experience of being thrown out of a pensieve and having too much information to process at once.

Finally, Harry understood what Dumbledore meant all those years ago when he mentioned having too many thoughts in your head.

-You told me not to pursue it!-

-She asked me out-

-They're just kids!-

-I think we had our first civilized conversation-

He sunk into the chair lined up behind him and shut his eyes in an effort to concentrate his churning thoughts. The phrases bounced around the room and within his skull making his ears ring loudly.

-We're not going anywhere, Moony-

-Just grow up a little-

Lily. James. Harry focused on them--her adoring smile and his love-sick grin--and suddenly the other memories faded into the background. Sirius was right! Harry couldn't help himself but think. She didn't really hate him. She asked him out! They really did love each other. The image of them cradling a young Harry tugged purposefully at the corners of his mouth. And they had loved him.

His chest filled with warmth and his whole body lightened. He let out a giddy laugh into the otherwise quiet office and the corners of his eyes began to sting. Tears of joy, he realized. Certainly a rarity for him. His bottom lip quivered with unrestrained emotion and his hands began to shake against his thighs.

Suddenly his parents didn't seem like figments of his imagination. They weren't just a myth that everyone seemed to know or a few lines in a history book. They were real people. They had loved and cried. They found friends and made a family. They fought and struggled for what was right. They had lived. And they were good people.

They were good people.

James was not just a bully, like Snape had said. James had been the first to agree to give up his dreams for the Order of the Phoenix. James protected and stood by his friends, even if the world was against them. James Potter was not just an arrogant nuisance, but a good man.

And Lily. She was not just the innocent, helpless girl that Snape seemed to think she was. Lily did what was right and fought for what was right. She loved people unconditionally. She was not weak or gullible, but a kind soul who believed the best in people.

And Sirius said that he is the best of them.

I am the best of them, he repeated to himself.

And I do look just like James, he thought. Except for Lily's eyes. Somehow, the comment that had been made too many times to count actually meant something now. He resembled his father. The man who would do anything for his friends and family. He has Lily's eyes, eyes that shone with compassion, but could also flare with righteous anger to defend a better world.

I am the best of them, he thought again. His cheeks hurt from smiling for so long, but he couldn't seem to let it slip. I am the best of them. And he began to believe it.

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"I'm kind of nervous, 'Mione," Ron called into the bathroom. He sifted through their trunk for a decent muggle shirt that wasn't completely wrinkled by his poor folding skills.